Forbidden Destiny
by Skippy1
Summary: One-Shot. Ginny's mind wanders to Draco during the final battle.


Disclaimer:  I don't own Harry Potter or its characters, and I'm not making money off of this.

A/N:  Hm.  I'm really not sure what to think of this.  I think I liked the idea of it more than how it actually turned out, but I don't think it sucks.  Anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.

**Forbidden Destiny**

By Skippy 1

I hadn't expected it to be like this.  It seems as if there are people everywhere, both dead and alive, yet there is no crowd.  It is night, yet there is enough light from some unknown source to see.  Everyone is moving, initiating and blocking curses as they fight for what they believe in.  I'm in a sort of daze.  I'm not thinking anymore.  I'm not afraid.  I don't know where my family is.  It feels like a dream.  I've fought in battles before, but never like this.  I think it's because we all sense it.  This is the final battle.  The prevailing side will be decided tonight.

And then I see him.

The beads of sweat rolling down his face are the only sign of his emotion.  He seems so calm.  His blonde hair, no longer neat like I had always seen it, swayed with every turn.  When someone attacked, he blocked.  Then he would attack them back, knocking them down.  He seems invincible; I can almost see a protective glow around him.  

He looks at me.  I remember the last time he looked at me.

_********_

_I see him enter the tower from the stairway, a few minutes later than usual.  We met there every night.  It was the only place we could be together and not pretend to hate each other, as Weasleys and Malfoys were expected to do.  I could sense a different air about him; something was troubling him.  He had forgotten to put on his famous smirk until I ran up to greet him.  We sat on the ground and hugged and kissed and talked and laughed for a while, like we usually did.  Then he looks at me in this funny way and he kisses my cheek.  The only way I can explain that look was that he looked like a homeless little boy staring in a toy store window.  Longing, hope, pain, and love all mixed into one pale face.  He gets up and looks out the window, into the night sky.   _

_"My father sent a letter to me this morning," he says.  I stand up and brush myself off._

_"So?"_

_"My inauguration is next Saturday."  We had both known that this time would come, that he would be invited to become a Death-Eater, but we had never discussed it.  I move closer to him and stroke his shoulder._

_"What are you going to do?" I whisper.  Draco turns his head and looks into my eyes._

_"I'm going to go to it."  I take a step back, surprised.  He turns back toward the window._

_"What?  But I thought - I thought-"_

_"You don't understand, Ginny," he says quietly.  "I'm a Slytherin.  I'm a pureblood.  My father's a Death-Eater.  I have to join them.  It's my destiny."_

_"It doesn't have to be, Draco," I reply furiously.  "It's your choice!  You can avoid it!"_

_"Maybe I don't want to avoid it, Ginny."  I hadn't expected this, and move another step away._

_"I don't understand you," I say.  "How can you…. They kill people, Draco.  Innocent people.  How can you want that?"_

_"It's not about that, Ginny."_

_"Then what is it about?"_

_"I hear things.  From my father.  The Death-Eaters are taking over.  They have plans.  Voldemort will have complete power soon."_

_"Then you should tell Dumbledore their plans, Draco!  Join the Order of the Phoenix, with me!"  He almost laughs._

_"You know that your brothers and I working together would not work out very well.  They wouldn't let me in, anyway.  I'm a Malfoy."_

_"What if I could convince them to?"  He shakes his head and turns around._

_"Listen, Ginny," he says as he takes my shoulders in his hands and holds me close.  "The Order of the Phoenix members will be the first to go.  If you're smart, you won't join them."_

_"I'm going to join, Draco.  Nothing you say can change that."  Draco ignores me and continues._

_"They're going to kill anyone who resists them.  Their plans are brilliant.  They're going to win this war.  The Light side doesn't have a chance."  I pull myself away from him, angry._

_"Then you should die resisting with the rest of us!" I say as loudly as I can without being heard.  Draco sighs and runs his hand through his hair, looking at the ground._

_"I guess I'm a selfish Slytherin, then."_

_"And I'm a brave Gryffindor."  We both look at each other.  We're thinking the same thing, but I'm too afraid to voice it aloud._

_"You know what this means, then," he says after a moment.  "You joining the Order of the Phoenix, me joining the Death-Eaters."  I nod and look away._

_"We can't be together," I manage to whisper.  Tears form in my eyes.  Draco steps forward and takes me in his arms.  Arms I love for whom they belong to.  Arms I hate for his choice.  He lets go after a moment and walks toward the stairwell.  He puts his foot on the first step, but looks back at me and opens his mouth, as if he is about to say something._

_"Ginny, I…. I want you to know that…." He pauses.  I look at the floor. "I…I'm sorry."_

"Me too," I answer.  I sense his gaze for a moment more, and then I hear his footsteps down the stairs.

_*****_

            He looks away.  Someone has attacked him again, and he has to fight back.  A Death-Eater comes at me and I do the same. 

            Then suddenly everything stops.  I look around for an explanation, and notice everyone's heads are turned to the hill to my left.  Harry and Voldemort are dueling on top.

            I realize that the fate of the worst war in magic history will be decided in the next few moments, here, on this hill.  I did not take part in the final battle.  The final battle is happening thirty yards away.  Everyone's eyes are on the two.  Even Moody, who I see out of the corner of my vision, has one eye on them, although his magical one is sweeping the crowd, searching for anyone who dared to attack him.

            My mind always turns to the strangest things at tense, important times like these.  I wonder what that hill will be called in the future.  I wonder if they will have a statue on top of it.

            Then suddenly Harry falls.  My heart lurches.  He was our only chance to get rid of Voldemort.  He can't be dead.  Voldemort, still cautious, moves slowly toward the bod- Harry.  He's right next to him.  A flash of green light suddenly seems to erupt from the ground.  Everyone gasps.  The curse hits Voldemort.  He falls.

            Voldemort is dead.  The war is over, and the Light side has won.

Harry rises, and many cheer.  A few Death-Eaters shoot curses everywhere in desperation, but they quickly are put under control by Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.  Most of the Death-Eaters run away.  They've lost this war, and know what awaits them now.  The rest of us wander, looking for friends and family members.

            "Ginny!" I turn around.  It's my brother.

            "Bill!"  We hug.  He has a huge gash on his left cheek that is sure to leave a scar, and he is limping, but other than that he looks all right.

            "Have you seen anyone else?" he asks.  I shake my head.

            "You?"

            "No.  See that huge rock over there?"  He points and I nod.  "We'll split up.  Look around for them and meet me there in ten minutes."  I look around for what I think to be ten minutes, finding no one.  I couldn't bear to search the bodies.  I head toward the rock and sit down on it, hoping Bill had better luck and we were not the only ones of our family to survive. 

            I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around.  It's him.  His face is dirty, and there is blood running down his cheek from his mouth.

            "You were right," he says, "and I am sorry."

            "Draco-"

            "But what I meant to say was I love you."  He leans in and kisses me.  Despite the salty taste of blood, the kiss is sweet and passionate.  I melt into his bloody lips.  

            "I love you too," I pant out when we pull away.  I want nothing more than to kiss him again, but I see Aurors rounding up the last of the Death-Eaters.  "You've got to run," I tell him.  "They'll find you.  They'll take you to Azkaban."

            "I can't leave you again."  He kisses me again.  A sweet, bloody kiss.  It is enticing, but I push him away.

            "Go!" I plead.  He looks at me the same way he did that night, like a homeless boy outside a toy store.  Then he squeezes my hand once before letting go and running away.  I watch his silhouette disappear over the horizon as inevitable tears fall down my face.  Behind me, the sun rises.

THE END


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